Robert Whittaker made Derek Brunson pay for his mistakes Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 101.
The price may end up being contender status in a middleweight division that is already teeming with talent.
Whittaker evaded and out-maneuvered a series of ill-advised bull rushes from Brunson in the early going of their wild contender bout in Melbourne, Australia. Brunson’s sloppy, lunging style was long on power but short on technique—not to mention forethought—and Whittaker was just a shade too cagey.
The 25-year-old New Zealander eventually caught his off-kilter opponent leading with his chin and put him on rubber legs with a counter left hook.
Moments later, Whittaker followed up with a straight-left, high-kick combination that dropped Brunson to the canvas. As Whittaker poured on more strikes from top position, referee Herb Dean had no choice but to halt the action four minutes, seven seconds into the first round.
The end result was a crucial victory for Whittaker, who hopes to join the backlog of contenders at 185 pounds.
For Brunson? Yeah, not so much.
“We knew he was going to come out tough, but I had no idea he was going to come out that hard,” Whittaker told UFC play-by-play announcer Jon Anik in the cage when it was over. “I knew I had to weather the storm. He’s a heavy hitter. I tried to duck and weave as much as I could.”
With Michael Bisping reigning as champion, the middleweight title picture is likely to remain topsy-turvy well into 2017. In the wake of Yoel Romero’s high-flying KO over Chris Weidman at UFC 205, it is believed Romero and Bisping will meet up in the spring.
After that, it’s anyone’s best guess.
An on-again, off-again rematch between Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza is off again due to knee injury to Rockhold. Immediately behind that group is Gegard Mousasi, who came on strong with four straight wins during 2016.
Considering that Bisping’s first successful title defense came against 46-year-old Dan Henderson in the latter’s retirement fight at UFC 204, it stands to reason we need to keep the door open for some more off-the-wall matchups, too.
In an age when money trumps everything in the UFC, popular attractions like Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre could leapfrog the field if they eventually reach acceptable financial terms with UFC brass.
Whittaker—who entered this bout No. 7 on the UFC’s official rankings—is now nipping at the heels of that group of top dogs. It's a good place to be in a weight class where Bisping’s upset title win over Rockhold at UFC 199 proved anything can happen.
Whittaker remains unbeaten at middleweight since moving up from 170 pounds two years ago. The stoppage of Brunson in his first headlining fight for the UFC extended Whittaker’s win streak to five in the division and six overall.
He hasn’t lost since back-to-back welterweight defeats to Court McGee and Stephen Thompson in August 2013 and February 2014, respectively.
Whittaker said at the post-fight press conference he’d be open to a high-profile matchup against the fifth-ranked Mousasi next, according MMAjunkie's Steven Marrocco and John Morgan. Mousasi defeated Uriah Hall by first-round TKO at a Fight Night event in Belfast, Northern Ireland last weekend, so it would likely be easy to get the pair’s schedules to mesh while the top end of the division sorts out its business.
Any way you slice it, however, guys like Mousasi and Whittaker will have to wait a bit longer before the crowded championship carousel stops spinning long enough for either of them to hop on.
To that end, Whittaker can take solace in the fact he’s the youngest fighter in the UFC’s entire 185-pound Top 15.
He’ll turn 26 on December 20, which makes the glut of contenders in front of him feel less dire—especially when hoary veterans like 41-year-old Anderson Silva (No. 6) and 39-year-old Vitor Belfort (No. 9) are still hogging spots in the Top 10.
Along with 27-year-old Krzysztof Jotko (No. 11), guys like Whittaker and Mousasi (who is 31) likely represent the future of an otherwise rapidly aging division.
Another thing that should make Whittaker feel good right now?
He picked up an extra $100,000 after netting two of the UFC’s performance-based bonuses for his quick TKO of Brunson.
Their fight was the marquee attraction on yet another excruciatingly slow-paced Fight Night event. With 13 bouts and a total run time of more than six hours, it was a prime example of the over-saturation that has plagued the UFC’s live event schedule in recent years.
The card featured few recognizable faces, and 10 fights ended up going the distance. That included an uncanny eight in a row from the start of the internet-only prelims to the televised curtain-jerker on Fox Sports 1.
One week after the UFC pulled a doubleheader by promoting events in Belfast and Sao Paulo, Brazil on November 19 and one week before the scheduled live finale of the umpteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show next Saturday, this event felt—in a word—unnecessary.
After a long slog into night in the Western Hemisphere (the show actually took place in the middle of the afternoon in Melbourne), Whittaker and Brunson did their best to wake up a sleepy television audience. Or, at least, those who stuck around to see this marathon through.
Brunson came in as a slight betting favorite, per Odds Shark (via Bloody Elbow). It was thought his skills would prove better rounded if he could steer clear of Whittaker’s striking attack with a few takedowns and some top control.
Unfortunately for his own status as an up-and-comer, Brunson couldn’t do that—and didn’t try all that hard to impose any semblance of a game plan.
The fight’s opening stages saw the American fighter attempt to punch his way into a couple of takedown attempts, but Whittaker warded them off in impressive fashion. Brunson’s strikes started out long and turned ponderous in a hurry when he couldn’t get the action to the floor.
The bout became exactly the type of slugfest that experts said he’d want to avoid against Whittaker, though Bleacher Report Senior Analyst Patrick Wyman tweeted it wasn't a surprise to see Brunson fight this way:
Brunson has been lunging in face-first more and more in his last few fights. Wrong guy to try that with in Whittaker. #UFCMelbourne
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) November 27, 2016
Don't let Brunson's mistakes distract from Whittaker's timing, counters, and overall striking skills. He's a really, really good fighter.
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) November 27, 2016
Brunson’s strategy—or perhaps lack of it—succeeded in turning things into an entertaining but chaotic affair. It was fun to watch, with Brunson and Whittaker taking turns chasing each other around the cage with off-balance but murderous punches.
Neither guy put on a perfect performance, but it was exactly the kind of fight needed at the end of a long, slow evening.
Brunson appeared to hurt Whittaker with punches on at least one occasion, but the New Zealander proved to be the more capable slugger in the end.
The loss snapped Brunson’s own run of five consecutive wins and cast him into uncertainty in the overstuffed middleweight landscape.
“It really sucks,” Brunson said at the presser, via Marrocco and Morgan. “I put together a streak and worked really hard, but I came out here and fought with no game plan, like a chump tonight. I’ll take it on the chin. I’m better than I showed."
Meanwhile, Whittaker proved he’s primed for a matchup with a Top Five opponent.
In a division where there is little room for error for middle-of-the pack contenders, Brunson’s folly was Whittaker’s gain.
